“Now witness the power of this fully armed and operational franchise!”

I think I quoted Emperor Palpatine correctly...at least I think I did, right guys?

Last week there was so much Rogue One goodness that it’s easy to forget that the as-of-yet-untitled Star Wars: Episode VIII is well into production, due for release in December 2017. We’re yet to discover what Luke Skywalker was up to on Ahch-To, but if the recent comment made by Mark Hamill is anything to go by, we may have found out something worrying about his character’s future in the movies...and boy, is it sure to create a disturbance in The Force...

*Potential Spoilers Ahead*

As a long time fan of The Kinks, Mark Hamill was a panelist at a special event for the famous band in London last night which was hosted by The Big Issue. They seemingly talked about the band more than Star Wars, but Hamill still managed to briefly answer a query about his future projects:

“I finish Episode VIII, and then I’m out of work”.

It’s not an outright confirmation of his future, but even so, I’ve got a bad feeling about this...why? Well his lack of work, particularly on other Star Wars projects, is worrying.Typically, actors leave franchise for one of two reasons. Either they've been written out, or -even worse- killed off! This would be another popular character from the Original Trilogy to meet their maker! Han Solo (Harrison Ford) won’t be returning for Episode VIII, because he was killed by his own son *SOB* in The Force Awakens.

Should we be concerned? Can we expect Luke Skywalker to die in Episode VIII?

We're never going to be OK, are we?

It’s certainly not outside the realms of possibility. Hamill and Carrie Fisher are getting on age-wise and may not want to be tied to the mammoth movie series any longer. Plus, the filmmakers may want to put the focus even more upon the younger cast. Even so, I think we should take this news with a pinch of salt. It could be nothing, or possibly something.

After all, whilst Mark Hamill is well known for the kindness and consideration he shows towards his eager fans, he has been known for his anarchic humor and his trolling before. You only need to check out his autographed collectible cards and his Twitter feed to see this in action.

An example of Mark Hamill's witty autographs.

Additionally there may be some essence of truth here, in that apart from technical reshoots, he may simply have a large gap between his projects. Indeed, principal photography on The Force Awakens was completed in November 2014, which, excluding reshoots, meant that there was over a year before its official release and the start of filming on Episode VIII! Maybe this potential gap between Episode VIII and IX is what he’s referring to?

If not, and there’s something to his comments, it would appear that Star Wars is taking a leaf out of Game of Thrones’ book by killing off main characters! However, I wouldn’t completely rule Mark Hamill as fully gone from the Star Wars universe. He could come back as a Force ghost like his Dad, and his masters Yoda and Obi Wan.

The amended Force ghosts in The Return of the Jedi

We know very little of where Episode VIII will take us or what it will feature, apart from these pictures of suited aliens in their posh speeders. Although personally, I don't think (or hope!) that we'll see Luke Skywalker dying in Episode VIII. However in light of everything we've explored above, what he’s told us may be true… at least, from a certain point of view.

In the meantime, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is fast approaching. Check out the trailer below, ahead of the December 16th release- let's hope Rogue One doesn't jump on the murder bandwagon and kill off too many great characters!